I’ve got a confession to make: I’ve never been a big fan of “Lilly,” the baby-voiced character that narrates preshow announcements at the Venue. But for the final new VarieTease fantasia before the building is demolished, creator/choreographer Blue Star (with the aid of collaborator/writer Patrick Fatica) has finally found a way to make me empathize with her prepubescent alter ego. Lilly Loses Everything finds the Cindy Brady-bewigged brat institutionalized in a mental hospital, where a dose of hallucinogenic medication makes her confront anthropomorphic incarnations of her own insecurities.
Lilly Loses Everything is (loosely speaking) the uplifting final installment of a VarieTease trilogy that started with Spellbound and continued with Rain, though you needn't have seen either to enjoy this dynamic dance show. Backed by a high-energy soundtrack that includes Florence + The Machine, David Lynch, and a corrupted reinterpretation of The Rainbow Connection, the cast — Tymisha Harris, Megan Boetto, Katrina Soricelli, Amanda Cox and Elaine Hoxie — not only execute some of the best-ever examples of Blue’s signature MTV-meets-Bolshoi aesthetic, but also deliver Beckett-esque absurdist dialogue with aplomb. As an added bonus for longtime followers, the production is packed with fan-service easter eggs from the troupe’s entire history. In the end, Blue strips away all the masks and symbolically passes the torch to the next generation; after all these years, she not only blew my mind, but broke my heart.
VarieTease: Lilly Loses Everything
Blue LaLa Entertainment
Orlando FL
Black Venue
Ages 18 and up
50 minutes
$12
Thursday, May 16th 7:30 PM
Saturday, May 18th 9:00 PM
Sunday, May 19th 9:00 PM
Tuesday, May 21st 7:30 PM
Thursday, May 23rd 9:00 PM
Saturday, May 25th 4:30 PM
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